Cardinals at Raiders (Pick, 39.5) (8 pm ET NBC)
Arizona’s first team offense under Carson Palmer has been exceptional in training camp and in their limited playing time in preseason games. “This year, we’re on the same page now, Andre Ellington said.” Carson’s back. We have our leader back. When he’s out there, the offense is going smooth.” Drew Stanton will come in after Palmer, so the Cardinals will have a strong quarterback duo for the first half of this game. But the backend of Arizona’s rotation is extremely weak with Logan Thomas and Phillip Sims, and since preseason games are usually decided late, it’s tough to trust the Cardinals.
Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio is going to be conservative even though this is the third preseason game. “We’re not as concerned with scheming in the preseason as much as we are showing the players how we gather information,” Del Rio said. “There are certain things you kind of expect about what you’re going to do and try to do in preseason game number 3, but I think you do have to take pause and make sure you think about it. We’ll see what is appropriate.” The Raiders have a decent quarterback rotation for preseason games with Derek Carr, Matt McCloin, Christian Ponder, and Cody Fajardo. But since they are not too concerned with this game, and with Arizona’s QB rotation on the backend poor, this game is a tough handicap and an easy pass on Sunday night.